It seemed an innocent enough idea. After Barnaby Gilbert got laid off with a nice severance, his boss suggested he take up a new hobby to fill up his free time. On his regular commuter train, Barnaby got an idea what that hobby would be. He decided to satisfy a curiosity he'd long had. An avid birder, he began tracking some regular passengers, people he'd always wondered about, to see where they went and what they did. In following a Chinese man, a schoolgirl, and a sexy woman, he used the same techniques he had to add hawks and herons to his life list.
Casper became a national celebrity when newspapers ran the story of the amazing cat that regularly took the No. 3 bus on 11-mile journeys around his home town, Plymouth, in Devon. While his devoted owner, Susan Finden, had wondered where her elusive pet was disappearing to each day, Casper was brightening the lives of countless commuters as they went about their business. Bus drivers, too, were getting well-acquainted with Casper, and notices went up in their depot alerting staff that a very special passenger might board their vehicle. In fact, he became a mascot for the bus company, and pictures of him and Susan adorned No. 3 buses. When Casper was sadly killed by a car in early 2010 messages of sympathy flooded in from places as far a field as Australia and Argentina. It quickly became clear that Casper and his remarkable story had touched the lives of so many people around the world. Movingly told by the owner who loved him dearly, Casper the Commuting Catis the touching story of a very special black-and-white cat who rode the bus and stole our hearts.
The Commuter Chronicles is a collection of 6 1/2 years of the weekly column Amy J. Randall-McSorley has been honored to free-lance write for the Circleville Herald, Pickaway County, Ohios newspaper. The collection is a blend of deeply reflective, poetic, and humorous musings by Amy inspired by her commute to work an hour away from her rural home.
"Forceful arguments analyze the migration phenomenon in Puerto Rico from different points of view: the parallel between migration in Corcega and migration in Puerto Rico by Hugo Rodriguez Vecchini; and the definition of ""Puerto Rican"" offered by Juan Manuel Garcia Passalacqua."
An intimate, clever, and ultimately gut-wrenching graphic memoir about the daily decision people must make between being sexualized or being invisible—now in paperback In Commute, we follow author and illustrator Erin Williams on her daily commute to and from work, punctuated by recollections of sexual encounters as well as memories of her battle with alcoholism, addiction, and recovery. As she moves through the world navigating banal, familiar, and sometimes uncomfortable interactions with the familiar-faced strangers she sees daily, Williams weaves together a riveting collection of flashbacks. Williams recollections highlight the indefinable moments when lines are crossed and a woman must ask herself if the only way to avoid being objectified is to simply cease drawing any attention to her physical being. She delves into the gray space that lives between consent and assault and tenderly explores the complexity of the shame, guilt, vulnerability, and responsibility attached to both. Praise for Commute “This sharp and splendidly drawn memoir will strike a strong chord in the current moment. ” —Publishers Weekly, starred review “One day’s commute offers time for the author to reflect on sexual predators, alcoholism, and the experiences she understands better now than she did at the time. . . . A catharsis for the author that fits perfectly within a pivotal period for society and culture at large.” —Kirkus Reviews “This is welcoming, soul-baring, stunningly interconnected, and very discussable.” —Booklist
“An astute account of [Tokyo’s] commuter train network . . . and an intellectually stimulating invitation to rethink the interaction between humans and machines.” —Japan Forum With its infamously packed cars and disciplined commuters, Tokyo’s commuter train network is one of the most complex technical infrastructures on Earth. In An Anthropology of the Machine, Michael Fisch provides a nuanced perspective on how Tokyo’s commuter train network embodies the lived realities of technology in our modern world. Drawing on his fine-grained knowledge of transportation, work, and everyday life in Tokyo, Fisch shows how fitting into a system that operates on the extreme edge of sustainability can take a physical and emotional toll on a community while also creating a collective way of life—one with unique limitations and possibilities. An Anthropology of the Machine is a creative ethnographic study of the culture, history, and experience of commuting in Tokyo. At the same time, it is a theoretically ambitious attempt to think through our very relationship with technology and our possible ecological futures. Fisch provides an unblinking glimpse into what it might be like to inhabit a future in which more and more of our infrastructure—and the planet itself—will have to operate beyond capacity to accommodate our ever-growing population. “Not a ‘rage against the machine’ but an urge to find new ways of coexisting with technology.” —Contemporary Japan “An extraordinary study.” —Ethnos “A fascinating in-depth account of the innovations, inventions, sacrifices, and creativity required to ensure Tokyo’s millions of commuters keep rolling. It also provides much food for thought as our transportation systems become increasingly reliant on automated technology.” —Pacific Affairs
The uncommon life of train commuters unveils itself in these twenty stories about Phil, Angie, Tony, Clyde, Paula, and others who hope they don’t sleep past their stop again. Filled with drama, comedy, and adventure, these stories show people connecting with their fellow commuters by what happens on the train. Will Phil and Angie find love? Can Tony find the emerald ring a ghost hid on the train? How can an overweight Clyde escape from a locked train bathroom after the lights go out and his stop is coming? Near the train tracks, there is Paula’s house where women escape into their art and from the memories of commuting. These are just some of the stories about people experiencing life on and off a commuter train. Riding a commuter train is a salvation when the highways shut down and agony when the rails shut down. It is a time to catch up on sleep, play video games, listen to music, socialize, knit, read a book, or write a book.
Our time on this physical earth is finite; however, the time we spend after our bodies have grown too old to continue is eternal. Where do you want to spend eternity? The story is about someone who had his priorities all wrong. With the help of a golden bridge, God’s presence helped him realize the importance of having faith that your belief in God is true.
